What do you get when you mix the traditional sounds of the Brazilian northeast with a heavy dose of King Crimson-esque prog rock and sprinkle in some metal reminiscent of early Opeth? You get Papangu, one of the most interesting and promising acts to come out of a country already known for exporting unique heavy music. Formed originally back in 2012 playing stoner rock, it was only after years of hard rock that the brazilian progressive underground scene would get to know them, as it would be with 2021’s brilliant Holoceno that they’d make their first splash. Blending the crushing weight of sludge with the absolute craziness and unpredictability of prog, this first album managed to get many eyes on them around the globe, with outlets such as Decibel calling them “one of the most promising bands out of Brazil”. 2024’s Lampião Rei went in a slightly different direction, sonically speaking, laying into a more zeuhl-y side of things, retelling the story of the country’s most famous bandit leader.
After racking up successful tour after successful tour out in their country (including an appearance at last year’s Knotfest), they announced their first set of gigs abroad, flying over to Europe this coming August, starting with none other than ArcTangent Festival over in Bristol, coming through Glasgow, Nottingham and London, then passing through the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Norway. In one final push before heading to the “old world”, the João Pessoa-based sextet announced a few gigs around major cities in our southeast, with São Paulo being on their route.
Papangu had already played the city a few times earlier that year, with “Brazilian New York” acting as their home base during the Engaiolada tour, which happened earlier this year, seeing three distinct performances from the guys. Why would anyone go out and see them again then, you may be asking yourself. Well, from February onwards, they have absolutely been on the up and up, with their popularity growing steadily in the past few months. The largest venue they’d played on the past tour was the simple La Iglesia, which suits 150 people at most, while the newly-opened Burning House, which hosted them this time around, seems equipped for around 3 times that number. Always striving to deliver a spectacle to their fans, they also promised to throw in a few unreleased tracks from their upcoming third album into the setlist, so the night was sure to be interesting. The band itself has directly asked me to not disclose any names for the songs in this article (they weren’t said, anyways) and recordings were discouraged, as the versions played that night (and that will be played during the EU/UK tour) are still not final, and the songs are bound to evolve before recording.
That was exactly how the night started off, with a new, unreleased track, already getting fans on their toes from the get go. From what I can remember, the song flirted more with their “lighter” side, having no fear when it came to experimenting with the more progressive elements of Lampião Rei, again, wearing its northeastern Brazilian influence on its sleeve with pride. The epic, grandiose 8 minute odyssey that is the beautiful “Rito de Coroação” followed, ensuring the energy was still sky-high. Starting with a triumphant guitar riff, accompanied by an incredibly nostalgic synth organ, “Rito” was the closer for most of the sets on their past tour, even seeing the band go offstage and perform a conga line at some dates, so throwing out such a banger so early was definitely a pleasant surprise which got everyone going.
Bouncing around eras and moving over to the much sludgier Holoceno, “Terra Arrasada”, always dedicated to the MST (Movimento dos Sem Terra, or the Landless Workers Movement, social movement aimed at promoting land reforms in the country) according to Rodolfo, the brilliant keyboard player and frontman Rodolfo Salgueiro, hit like a truck with its sinister atmosphere, created by the pained screams and urgent riffage, combined with sporadic bursts of blast beats. The guys decided to pull out all stops for this initial block, as after a brief Zappa jam, the upbeat piano notes of “Maracutaia”, one of the last album’s lead singles, dominated the air at Burning House, and the crowd went expectedly wild. For those that know absolutely nothing about Papangu, check out “Maracutaia”, as it perfectly captures their essence, even featuring a rubber chicken solo. It’s worth highlighting that Papangu doesn’t usually play with a set-in-stone setlist, taking the very jazz approach of choosing the next song based purely off vibes and looking at each other, which gives their concerts an unparalleled naturality and sense of flow, making every show a different experience, also explaining why most songs (including “São Francisco” and “Ave-Bala”, the next two that came up) started from unpretentious jams.
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Once again flowing from song to song, us fans got to witness a unique sight, a wild intercontinental cover medley, that started with The Doors’ classic “Roadhouse Blues”, bringing a heavy dose of vintage groove to the night, while quickly morphing into Luiz Gonzaga’s “Pagode Russo”. This last track is quite hard to explain to a non-brazilian, as it is one of the classics of forró, a genre prevalent in the northeast, and it narrates the story of a man who dreamt he was dancing pagode, a completely different typical genre, but not in any city, in Moscow of all places. Bringing out another forró anthem, came Messias Holanda’s “Pra Tirar Côco”, which touches on a basic human desire, climbing up numerous palm trees to grab coconuts. Metal came back in full swing with another one off the first album, “Água Branca”, which interestingly shared its name with the neighborhood the venue was located in. One more unreleased third album track turned heads before another Lampião Rei double header, “Boitatá” and “Oferenda no Alguidar” got people singing, totaling almost 12 minutes, when combined.
Already way over 1 hour into the set, the third unreleased song of the night blessed our ears, making way for the incredibly happy “Sol Raiar”, which features some amazing triangle playing, a stark contrast to “Bacia das Almas” and it’s almost psychedelic sound, perfect to trip out to, reflect, or drive fast at night on a large open road, as if you were the main character in a cheesy 80’s movie. To close off the first “act” of the set, per se, clocking in at well over an hour and a half, came the three-part “Acende a Luz” saga, which opens Lampião. Comparing all parts, “Alquimia”, the first one, is completely clean, calm, having some chill singing and soothing guitar playing, while the second part, “O Encandeio”, starts off in a similar vein, but is quickly taken over by harsh vocals and synths, but still having a flying chorus, with the closer, “Sagüatimbó”, injecting a heavy dose of Brazilian-ness into the mix, making you feel as if you were a true cangaceiro in the depths of the nordeste’s vast deserts.
In true prog fashion, the band left the stage for a brief 15 minute intermission, not only to give the fans some time to breathe and buy more drinks, but also for the band itself to figure out how they’d end the gig. The dark and chaotic “Lobisomem”, which can be best described as menacingly overwhelming, kicked things off for the second part, being the final track off the first album to appear in that night’s repertoire. Putting one 8 minute hard-hitter after another, the instrumental “Ruínas” would be the last “known” song played that night, leaving fans with a smile after many minutes of expert flute playing. To end off on a high note, the sextet turned four-piece would play not only one new song, but two, with the last one being so fresh they didn’t even know if it’d make it to the third album.
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All in all, Papangu proved progressive music can be much more than just music, providing an all-out 2 hour spectacle for the lucky crowd that caught them in São Paulo. If I could offer a quick word of advice over to all the Brits reading this, go see them live when they come around your place in august, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing one of the most creative and unique acts out of Brazil playing a foreign country for the first time. When they inevitably garner a worldwide cult following, you’ll have the opportunity to say you saw them live before anyone else. Do yourself a favour and check out the tour dates below:
- 15.08.25 – Bristol/UK – ArcTanGent Festival
- 17.08.25 – Glasgow/UK – The Hug & Pint
- 19.08.25 – Nottingham/UK – Billy’s
- 20.08.25 – London/UK – Moor Beer Vaults
- 22.08.25 – Tilburg/NL – Little Devil
- 23.08.25 – Haarlem/NL – Complexity Fest
- 24.08.25 – Berlin/DE – Neue Zukunft
- 26.08.25 – Copenhagen/DK – Råhuset
- 27.08.25 – Oslo/NO – Vaterland
- 28.08.25 – Bergen/NO – Hulen
- 29.08.25 – Trondheim/NO – Lokal
Tickets: linktr.ee/papangu
Papangu – Burning House, São Paulo (6th June 2025) setlist
- Unknown
- Rito de Coroação
- Terra Arrasada
- Maracutaia
- São Francisco
- Ave-Bala
- Roadhouse Blues/Pagode Russo/Pra Tirar Côco
- Água Branca
- Unknown
- Boitatá
- Oferenda no Alguidar
- Unknown
- Sol Raiar
- Bacia das Almas
- Acende a Luz: I. Alquimia
- Acende a Luz: II. O Encandeio/III. Sagüatimbó
Intermission
- Lobisomem
- Ruínas
- Unknown
- Unknown
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Photos by Daniel Agapito
